Next up in our weekly series profiling Eurovision fans worldwide, we have Tim form Germany aka @PikaSchleh on Twitter.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name‘s Tim and I‘m from Gelsenkirchen in western Germany.
What do you do or tell us something interesting about you?
I‘m a 17 year old student that hasn’t started taking driving lessons yet. I got a fishing liscence at the age of 13 though. My interests are pretty average Eurofan I‘d say. Once I’m out of school I wanna travel all around Europe. Besides German and English I can speak basic Spanish and French. I even tried learning Norwegian once. I’m obsessed with the country and went there for the summer holidays this year. During off season I wait for Junior Eurovision to kick off. My biggest idol is Ariana Grande. I really enjoy listening to her music and went to her concert in September. Pop music and pop culture in general play a huge part in my life. I love watching RuPaul‘s Drag Race as well. My favourite queens are Kim Chi and Monét X Change. When I’m not watching Netflix I’m probably out with friends. Anyways that kind of escalated. Let‘s move on..
Well we definitely feel we've gotten to know you through that! And sorry Bianca Del Rio and Alyssa Edwards are our favourites ~ Aussievision
When did you first get into Eurovision?
Although I vividly remember watching the German national final with my mom back in 2012 I didn’t get into Eurovision until after the 2015 final. I revived this very account during 2017 pre season and have been addicted ever since. I‘m so grateful for all the friends I’ve made and can’t wait to meet some of them in Rotterdam.
Which is your favourite Eurovision year and why?
Of the ones I‘ve watched I gotta say that 2014 had the best overall package of hosts, stage, branding, songs and intervals. I still remember asking my mom about Conchita because her appearance confused me. 2016 is a very close second place for me. What an absolutely high class show, just stunning. That was also that first time I heard the songs before the show which is probably why Soldiers Of Love by Lighthouse X remains my most streamed song on Spotify. I left it on repeat for an entire day. You could say I was quite obsessed.
Both fantastic years, but Soldiers of Love? That's an interesting choice....
Germany have had an up and down decade, a win and two more top 10s but quite a few last places. What changes would you like to see from your country and who would you like to see represent Germany?
I wouldn‘t wanna go internal because of the German public. I mean, we saw the outrage that such a decision can have on our opinionated people back in 2016. I‘d probably do a lot more promotion and make the show more accessible to the younger generation. They should offer a live stream on YouTube so that everybody can follow the event and maybe even expand it to multiple shows to be able to feature more genres of music and get attention from the viewers. The last decade started with a win for us. I‘m hoping for another legendary entry next year.
Which artist would you like to see represent your nation?
In my opinion Madeline Juno (who tried to represent us in 2014) would be the perfect candidate for us. She‘s incredibly talented, can make both English and German language songs work. Her voice is unique and beautiful. She stands out in a field of boring and plain German pop artists and deserves it the most. Her music is very contemporary and meaningful with lyrics that give an in depth view of her experiences in life. My favourite songs of her have to be "Waldbrand", "Still", "Gift", "DNA", "Stupid Girl" and "Automatisch".
Go stream her newest album right now!
If you could change one thing about Eurovision what would it be?
As we could see this year showing the participant‘s face when receiving low scores doesn’t do anybody a favour. The same goes for wide shots, who needs them anyways. That‘s just mistakes that Israel made, but in general I‘d make sure that juries remain objective when rating the songs even if they hate their neighbour (looking at you Armenia & Azerbaijan) and only allow singers and producers to join. Let‘s be real what do comedians, dancers, tv presenters etc. know about songwriting and vocal technique? I mean if they want to subjectively vote for the best song they could still do that through televote and that‘s the tea.
Which artist would you like to see return to the competition?
Honestly I‘d love for SuRie to come back with a banging song and get her revenge for being interrupted by that stage invader. I feel like she had a lot of unused potential. Maybe also Franka from Croatia. She really deserved more for that amazing performance. She‘s a great singer and could surprise with a proper Balkan ballad. Two queens from the 2018 edition, how iconic.
Agree on Franka, an excellent artist - just needs a better song and someone else on stage with her!
If you could pick only three Eurovision songs to listen to for the rest of time, what would they be?
If you‘re gonna listen to three songs only for the rest of time you gotta make sure they have longevity and put you in a good mood because we don’t wanna end up depressed right? I‘ll spontaneously go with Friend Of A Friend by Lake Malawi, L‘essenziale by Marco Mengoni and (how fitting) Replay by Miss Tamta.
A good mix there, perhaps after listening to Friend of a Friend for eternity you may figure out exactly what's going on in that song.
Which Eurovision song:
Is the best winner?
Without a doubt it‘s Nocturne by Secret Garden. I mean we gotta appreciate this timeless masterpiece. I have never heard such a mesmerising instrumental. Fully deserved the win. Play that at my funeral.
Has the best live vocal?
La Forza is such a challenging song and the fact that Elina nailed all of these notes on every single performance is wild. Should‘ve won the whole thing in 2018 in my opinion.
She did make the whole thing look effortless...
Was robbed?
I will never understand how Rak Bishvilo (Israel 2013) didn’t even come close to making the final. Excellent singer (that high note still sends my wig to mars) combined with a beautiful ballad in Hebrew. What else could one ask for?
Is the best from this decade?
1944 has got to be my 2nd favourite Eurovision song of all time. Uniqueness and authenticity fully peaked in this one. Jamala conveyed soo much emotion on stage and the fact that she sang in Crimean Tatar gives me the chills. It‘s just breathtaking.
As much as it pained us to lose to 1944, hearing Jamala in the arena did give me goosebumps (though Dami gave me more) ~ Dale
Is your guilty pleasure?
Croatia‘s 2006 entry Moja Štikla is such a catchy nonsense entry like how can you not love it? The perfect mix of ethnic and complete madness. Lyrics like "Afrika Paprika" and "S- S- S- S*x" are not only silly but help you get the song stuck in your head.
Is your favourite National Final song (that didn't make it to Eurovision)?
Mariette‘s "Don‘t Stop Believing" is one of my favourite songs of all time simply due to its strong composition and empowering lyrics that have gave me strength in dark times. This could‘ve easily competed with Warrior and Love Injected for the title of my 2015 winner.
Any other interesting honourable mentions?
Oh darling.. where do I even start! Croatia and Slovakia 2010 were robbed. Quite a weak year and they didn’t even come close to qualifying. What a shame.. When The Music Dies is another song from my top 5 Eurovision songs of all time. Azerbaijan really snapped in 2012 and should‘ve won with that instead of Running Scared. Taken By A Stranger and I Feed You My Love were too ahead of their time and still sound futuristic today. There Must Be Another Way and Ale Jestem are really underrated please show them some love, thanks.
And finally... Tonight Again, Sound of Silence, Don’t Come Easy, We Got Love or Zero Gravity
Prior to this year I would‘ve said Sound Of Silence but since I‘m a sucker for female popera I gotta go with the gorgeous Kate Miller-Heidke. She served us the vocally flawless space extravaganza we all needed. Douze points to her! My 2nd place of 2019, just behind Duncan Laurence.
Thank you for your time Tim, and good luck with future driving lessons!